Western culture has more need because they're so much more degenerated. They're so much more hurt, and misbalanced completely.

The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the mind.

I think communication starts when words are not present at all ... I think we put so much emphasis on language, actually silence is so much more important.

Theatre is fake... The knife is not real, the blood is not real, and the emotions are not real. Performance is just the opposite: the knife is real, the blood is real, and the emotions are real.

Because we never stop silently loving those who we once loved out loud

I am only interested in the ideas that become obsessive and make me feel uneasy. The ideas that I'm afraid of.

True love for whatever you are doing is the answer to everything.

A great artist has to be ready to fail.

Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.

When you have so much pain, you think you will lose consciousness. If you say to yourself, ‘So what, lose consciousness,’ the pain goes away.

If we go for the easy way, then we never change.

Mysticism and supernaturalism are the descendants of ignorance and fear.

There is an emptiness in my soul that only you can fill up!

You think you're superior to the others, don't you? We'll you're not. In fact you're worse for mistaking basic human decency for moral superiority.

Do not make this practice a source of pressure, compulsion, anxiety or pride. It is none of these. Zazen is simply a way to find your true home.

Spying is a like a game of chess: Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win - preferably a knight rather than a king or queen.

For me especially, I always need that literature medium.

Whenever you're unsure of yourself, whenever you're in doubt, ask yourself three questions. What do you believe in? What do you hope for? but most important, ask yourself, what do you love?

I wanted to see if the American man in plain brown pants and a bare torso could speak profound things.

A mind is as strong as its weakest think.

There is something in meanness which excites a species of resentment that never subsides, and something in cruelty which stirs up the heart to the highest agony of human hatred.